Sharon Hill woman fighting PennDOT

SHARON HILL -- Residents gave council an earful during the public comments portion of a recent council meeting.

Alice Dimaio, who lives on Laurel Road at Chester Pike, was up in arms about a traffic light that PennDOT wants to install -- in her backyard.

According to Dimaio, PennDOT plans to move her fence back one foot and lay a 36- by 36-inch slab of concrete inside her yard, then put the light up against the fence.

"This all has to do with that young girl being killed out front of my house," Dimaio said, referring to 16-year old Faith Sinclair, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver at that intersection in 2008.

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"That light had nothing to do with this. It had to do with a guy that blew a red light doing 80 miles an hour that night. I know because I was there. I stood over that child's body. I'll never have that out of my mind."

Dimaio said she never received a letter from PennDOT informing her of the plans to install the traffic light. She found out from her nephew who works for PennDOT.

"They're coming there next week or the following week and they're doing it because they're under pressure from the politicians," Dimaio said.

Borough Manager Sue Murtha assured Dimaio the borough is on her side.

"I have been going back and forth with PennDOT for over four months," Murtha said. "It is considered a borough right-of-way, and I have not and will not give them permission to do that."

Murtha advised Dimaio not to talk with PennDOT or sign anything from them, and to call the police if they show up.

"I'll tell you one thing," Dimaio said. "I will sit there. And the minute they start doing anything to my property, the police will have to lock me up because no one is touching my property."

Another resident, Antonio Hayward, addressed council about his inability to get a permit from the borough to rehab his "burn house" on Sharon Avenue.

"I have gotten all of my paperwork together," Hayward said. "I went to the borough to get a permit but I can't get a permit."

According to Hayward, the borough manager has blocked every permit he applied for.

He said he contacted the media, the NAACP, and Sen. Anthony Williams' office about the issue.

"This is an abuse of power. This is discrimination and anything else (Murtha) could possibly think of. Enough is enough. Why can't I get a permit to do the property I own to try to better my life?" he said.

Murtha responded by saying that Hayward's accusations were untrue and that she could back it up with paper documentation.

"This is a copy of a license," Murtha said, holding up a contractor's license with an insignia on it. "A typical contractor's license has the Attorney General or the State of PA on the license."

"This," she said, holding up the contractor's license that Hayward previously submitted when he applied for a permit, "has nothing but a contractor's name."

Murtha said the borough's ordinance requires a contractor to have a full copy of a license.

"When you submit that card, you will get your permit. But until that date, you will not get a permit," Murtha said.

Hayward repeatedly called Murtha a liar.

Other council members debated whether or not Hayward actually needed a contractor's license for the type of structure he owns. The borough solicitor, Leonard Sloane, said the dispute could be easily solved by determining what Hayward wants and whether he can, by law, have it.

Other residents addressed council about issues including the fee for block parties, wildlife encroaching on residential properties, and the possibility of having mosquito spraying in Sharon Hill.